{"id":13,"date":"2025-07-15T00:47:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/?p=13"},"modified":"2025-07-15T00:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:59:32","slug":"how-to-change-your-domain-in-wordpress-step-by-step-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/15\/how-to-change-your-domain-in-wordpress-step-by-step-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Your Domain in WordPress (Step-by-Step Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Changing your domain in WordPress might sound intimidating, but it\u2019s actually pretty straightforward\u2014especially if you follow the steps carefully. Whether you\u2019re rebranding, switching to a shorter URL, or moving from a subdomain to a main domain, here\u2019s how to safely update your WordPress site\u2019s domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Before You Start: Backup Everything<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before making any changes, back up your entire website\u2014files and database. You can do this using a plugin like <strong>UpdraftPlus<\/strong>, or manually through your hosting control panel (e.g. cPanel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Update WordPress Address and Site Address<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Log in to your <strong>WordPress dashboard<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Go to <strong>Settings &gt; General<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Change the <strong>WordPress Address (URL)<\/strong> and <strong>Site Address (URL)<\/strong> to your new domain name (e.g., <code>https:\/\/yournewdomain.com<\/code>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click <strong>Save Changes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll likely be logged out after this change. Log back in using the new domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2: Update Your Domain in the Hosting Settings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven\u2019t already pointed your new domain to your hosting account:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Update the domain\u2019s DNS settings to match your host\u2019s nameservers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add the domain to your hosting account using <strong>Addon Domains<\/strong> or <strong>Domain Manager<\/strong>, depending on your host.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make sure an SSL certificate is issued for the new domain. You can use <strong>Let\u2019s Encrypt<\/strong> or contact your hosting provider for help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Update Links and Media URLs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your old domain might still be used in internal links or media paths. To fix this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Install a plugin like <strong>Better Search Replace<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use it to search for <code>https:\/\/yourolddomain.com<\/code> and replace it with <code>https:\/\/yournewdomain.com<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Preview the changes using the &#8220;dry run&#8221; mode before applying them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 4: Redirect the Old Domain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To preserve SEO rankings and avoid broken links, redirect the old domain to the new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1: Using cPanel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <strong>Domains &gt; Redirects<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set up a <strong>301 redirect<\/strong> from <code>yourolddomain.com<\/code> to <code>yournewdomain.com<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2: Using .htaccess<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using Apache, add the following code to your <code>.htaccess<\/code> file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>RewriteEngine On<br>RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^yourolddomain\\.com [NC,OR]<br>RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\\.yourolddomain\\.com [NC]<br>RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https:\/\/yournewdomain.com\/$1 [L,R=301,NC]<br><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 5: Update Google Search Console and Analytics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t forget to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Add the new domain to <a>Google Search Console<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Submit a <strong>change of address<\/strong> request.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Update your domain in <strong>Google Analytics<\/strong> under Admin &gt; Property Settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Your WordPress site should now be fully transitioned to its new domain. Monitor your site for a few days to ensure everything is functioning properly. If anything breaks, reach out to your hosting support team or a WordPress developer for help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changing your domain in WordPress might sound intimidating, but it\u2019s actually pretty straightforward\u2014especially if you follow the steps carefully. Whether you\u2019re rebranding, switching to a shorter URL, or moving from a subdomain to a main domain, here\u2019s how to safely update your WordPress site\u2019s domain name. Before You Start: Backup Everything Before making any changes,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-howto","category-wp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imsowong.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}